My Laurwalk Rambles
by definitivebliss
Summary: This a collection of my Laurwalk one shots and drabbles that I've already posted on Tumblr.
1. Bugs

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters and all events are completely fictional. **

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Lauren Lopez didn't hate bugs, she just didn't like them. She didn't like the way they could just appear out of nowhere then disappear in the blink of an eye. It all started when she was about seven years old. One morning she woke up and there were bugs crawling across her wall. It turns out; she had accidentally left a biscuit on her bed-side table. Ever since then, she had become very, very particular about cleaning.

"Hey Lauren, what are you doing here?" Joe Walker asked as he opened his front door to find his petite friend standing on his doorstep.

"Can't I come and visit my best friend whenever I want to?" she asked.

"Yeah, of course you can. Come in," he said gesturing her inside. "It's just, you usually text or call me before you come over, that's all." He closed the door and followed Lauren into his living room. When Joe sat down next to her on his couch, he noticed she was playing with her hands, something she only did when she was nervous or scared. "Lo, what's wrong?" She didn't look up from where she was looking at her hands.

"Nothing," she said simply. He put his arm around her and pulled her closer to him.

"Come on, you're playing with your hands, you only do that when you're nervous or scared about something. Now, spill."

"Bugs."

"What?"

"Bugs. They're in my house, everywhere and I don't know why! If there's bugs that means there's food and I've cleaned my house all over," she said almost in tears. She quickly buried her face in his chest.

"Oh, it's okay. Bugs aren't that bad," he said gently stroking her back.

"Yes they are," she replied, her voice muffled by his chest. "You remember how I told you about when I was seven?" She looked up at him.

"Yes," he said laughing slightly. She narrowed her eyes and he stopped. "Would you like to sleep here tonight?" he asked. "To get away from the bugs," he added quickly. She nodded slightly.

"Thank you." She wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her head in the crook of his neck. He wrapped his arms around her waist and hugged her back.

"You're welcome," he whispered.

Later that night, Lauren was lying on Joe's incredibly uncomfortable couch, wide awake. _How can someone's couch be this uncomfortable?_ She thought to herself as she rolled over for what must have been the hundredth time that night. _I wonder if Joe's still awake._ She decided that she would go and have a look. She got up from the couch and tiptoed her way up to Joe's bedroom. She slowly opened the door to reveal a sleeping Joe Walker spread out on his bed. Lauren was about to turn around and go back to lying on his horrible couch when she heard him stir.

"Lo?" he said sleepily.

"Yeah?"

"What's wrong?"

"Why do you always think something's wrong?"

"I don't know. Why aren't you asleep?" he asked sitting up slightly.

"Your couch is unbelievably uncomfortable." He laughed.

"I told you." He held his arm out, "Come here." She smiled and closed the door behind her. Lauren walked over to his bed then lied down in his arms. As soon as she was comfortable, Joe wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer to him. She snuggled closer to him and laid her head on his chest, listening to his heartbeat. "Night Lo," he said as he kissed her head.

"Night Walks," she said as she hugged him tighter.

For the first time in her life, Lauren was glad she had bugs in her house.


	2. Parrot

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters (except Rubie) and all events are completely fictional.**

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Joe Walker and Lauren Lopez couldn't have been more proud when their first daughter, Rubie, said her first words. For months and months before hand they were desperately trying to get her to say 'mama' or 'dada'. A few months later, they didn't know what the excitement was all about. Now she never stopped talking! She was a parrot. Everything that everyone else said, she would repeat. But not just once, oh no. She would repeat everything she heard over and over again. It got even worse when Joe, Lauren and Rubie were around their friends. This was because someone would always accidentally swear or say something 'not for children's ears'. This is what led to little Rubie, by age two, to know every 'bad' word in the English language – and even some in Spanish, who knows where she got them from – and to be swearing like a sailor, even though her parents would tell her not to and punish her when she did.

"How's the parrot today?" Brian Holden asked jokingly as Joe, Lauren and Rubie came through his front door. Rubie turned around in Joe's arms and crossed her arms and pouted. Brian looked at her and smiled, being reminded by someone he knew. "She's definitely your daughter, Lauren."

"Oh shut up!" Lauren snapped as she sat down on the couch. She was currently eight months pregnant with their second child and was extremely moody.

"Oh shut up!" Rubie repeated.

"Rubie!" both Lauren and Joe shouted.

"Do not say that, it's not what you should be saying," Joe told her and she pouted.

"Come here to Uncle Brian," Brian said holding his arms out to her.

"Fuck no," she said and held onto her father tighter. She was currently in her terrible twos, so she had a temper. Joe put her down and told her off for swearing and that she shouldn't be saying that at all, especially not to Uncle Brian.

"Where'd she hear that?" Brian asked as him and Joe sat down on the second couch, Lauren had spread herself out on the other one. Lauren and Joe both sighed.

"Darren..." Joe replied.

"Yeah, she's also started calling things 'beautiful' and 'organic' and calling people 'man'." Brian and Joe laughed. "And she's also started drinking apple juice," Lauren continued. Upon hearing the words 'apple juice' Rubie's head popped up from where she was looking at some toys she was playing with on the ground.

"Fucking delicious!" she shouted.

Later that night Lauren and Joe were lying in bed watching some TV before they went to sleep. They were all cuddled up, well as much as they could be with Lauren's huge stomach, when their door slowly started to open.

"Rubie, what's wrong?" Joe asked his tiny daughter.

"I'm scared," she said clutching her blanket in one hand and her teddy bear in the other.

"Come here," Lauren said sleepily and she and Joe moved to either side of the bed so Rubie could lie in between them. Rubie ran up to the bed, jumped up and lied down in the space her parents had made. Joe turned the TV off then leant over to give his wife and daughter a kiss each on their foreheads.

"Goodnight, my beautiful girls," he whispered then laid back down. Rubie slowly turned over onto her side so she was facing her mum.

"Mummy?" she whispered.

"Yeah?" Lauren whispered back.

"Goodnight my beautiful mummy," Lauren slowly turned a little and kissed her daughters forehead.

"Goodnight my beautiful daughter."

Sometimes their parrot could be a pain but she was the kindest, gentlest, sweetest, cutest, funniest, smartest parrot they could ever ask for.


	3. Everytime We Touch

_So, I got the idea from this YouTube video (/watch?v=eyXvIT4x2hk) and from listening to 'Everytime We Touch' by Cascada._

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters or the song lyrics and all events are completely fictional.**

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"What did you guys get up to with the fans tonight?" Brian Holden asked the group of friends as they were all sitting on their bus after an amazing but also exhausting Apocalyptour show.

"Just the usual."

"I got this cool drawing!"

"And a bracelet."

"A fan serenaded me with _Everytime We Touch_." Everyone turned and looked towards their friend.

"What?" a couple of the friends asked.

"A fan serenaded me with _Everytime We Touch_," Joe Walker repeated. "It was kinda fun, I really like that song - it's one of my favourites," he smiled softly, thinking about the real reason he loved that song and gently kissed his petite girlfriend's hair who he was currently sitting with his arm around. Lauren smiled slightly when she felt Joe's lips on her head and leaned a little closer to his chest.

The friends continued talking for a little longer until one-by-one everyone went off to bed in their bunks, except for Joe and Lauren - the couple decided to stay up a little longer to bask in each other's company for as long as possible.

"Wox?"

"Mmm," Joe answered softly as he gently played with Lauren's hair, who was snuggled up to his chest.

"Why do you like that song so much?" she asked.

"What song?"

"_Everytime We Touch_."

"Oh... Well, I guess it kinda reminds me of how I feel about you." Lauren smiled and started thinking about the song lyrics.

"I still hear your voice, when you sleep next to me," Lauren started singing softly. "I still feel your touch in my dreams. Forgive me my weakness, but I don't know why. Without you it's hard to survive."

"'Cause everytime we touch, I get this feeling," Joe sang. "And everytime we kiss I swear I could fly. Can't you feel my heart beat fast, I want this to last. Need you by my side. 'Cause everytime we touch, I feel the static. And everytime we kiss, I reach for the sky. Can't you hear my heart beat so... I can't let you go. Want you in my life."

"Your arms are my castle, your heart is my sky," Lauren sang, gently touching his arms and his chest where his heart is. "They wipe away tears that I cry. The good and the bad times, we've been through them all. You make me rise when I fall."

"'Cause everytime we touch, I get this feeling," they both sang. "And everytime we kiss I swear I could fly. Can't you feel my heart beat fast, I want this to last. Need you by my side. 'Cause everytime we touch, I feel the static. And everytime we kiss, I reach for the sky. Can't you hear my heart beat so... I can't let you go. Want you in my life."

Lauren gently turned around in Joe's arms so she was facing him. She smiled, "I love you so much, Wox"

"I love you too, Lo," Joe smiled and leaned in to capture Lauren's beautiful lips with his own.

_'Cause everytime we touch, I get this feeling.  
__And everytime we kiss I swear I could fly.  
__Can't you feel my heart beat fast, I want this to last.  
__Need you by my side._


	4. Tease

_Okay, so I've had this idea for a while, I just didn't know how to write it – and when I say a while I mean ever since that Apocalyptour show when Lauren didn't have her white shirt and Joe's shirt was untucked. I saw a pic somewhere but I can't find it!_

_ I don't know what show it's from but I wrote a story about it._

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters and all events are completely fictional.**

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Lauren and Joe had just come off stage after performing one of their numbers and both of them were a little relieved that they got to sit out the next song and just relax.

Lauren was standing watching the next song while drinking some water when two strong arms wrapped around her waist and the person whose arms they belonged to started kissing her neck. Joe knew this was wrong because they had to go back on stage in a few minutes, but he just couldn't help himself – his petite girlfriend was just too beautiful and her dancing around in those tight shorts had been teasing him all night, and all tour.

"Wox..." she said as she put down her water bottle and tried not to get sucked in by Joe's irresistibility.

"Mmmm," he answered into her neck.

"Whataya trying to do to me, huh?" she asked with a slight laugh.

"Whataya trying to do to me?"

"What do you mean?" she asked, a little confused.

"Out there," he answered as he kept his lips connected to her neck. "Do you think you can just tease me like that and then get away with it?" Lauren smirked as she turned around in Joe's arms and put her arms around his neck. She smiled then reached up to kiss his very kissable lips.

"Come on, you think that was teasing?" she asked against his lips.

"Mmhmm," he answered.

She pulled away and with a very dangerous glint in her eyes and pushed her boyfriend back into one of the chairs that were backstage. She walked over to him and straddled his waist. "I'll show you teasing," she whispered seductively before she wrapped her arms around his neck and starting kissing him hungrily. Joe immediately kissed back and grabbed her waist, pulling her closer to him; if that was even possible.

They deepened the kiss and Lauren smiled slightly as she heard him moan – phase one of making Joe fall apart before he has to go on stage and perform: complete. She broke away from the kiss and kissed down his jaw and onto his neck while she stroked his very toned chest. After thinking that she'd probably teased him enough, she moved her lips back up to Joe's where he immediately reacted by deepening the kiss.

Joe couldn't hold it in any longer, he didn't care that they had to go back on stage soon; he wanted her now. He grabbed hold of her white shirt and untied the knot at the front before taking it off and throwing it.

Lauren's plan to just tease Joe went out the window once he had taken her shirt off, she didn't care about the show anymore; she just wanted him. She reached her hands down and untucked his shirt from his shorts; his extremely tight short-shorts that she thought were actually more of a tease than her shorts.

They knew they should've been listening for their cue, but they weren't. They knew that doing this backstage at one of their shows was bad, but they didn't care. They were too in love and wanted each other too much.

Just as Lauren was about to undo the small amount of buttons that were done up on Joe's shirt, they were interrupted.

"Get off each other and get out there now!" Julia screamed at them and they broke apart immediately. They both stood up and Lauren reached down to grab her shirt while Joe was about to start tucking in his. "No time! Get out there!" Julia pushed them towards the stage then took a seat putting her head in her hands and thinking about the headache that was most likely to form there. "What was June thinking when she made those costumes?"

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_I didn't really know how to end it, but there you are._


	5. Hostage

_This was for the word challenge a few of us did and the word was "hostage". So, here ya go..._

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters and all events are completely fictional.**

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It was turning into the Nerf gun battle war of the century. They had everything; big guns, small guns, regular guns, ammo, forts, hideouts, bases, more ammo, food supplies, uniforms... Everything! Everything except for one thing; hostages.

The teams started off equal with an equal amount of guns and ammo, but of course all that had changed in an instant when Joey had snuck up behind Jaime and stolen her guns and one of the teams had found where most of the other team were hiding.

"We need a plan," Brian whispered yelled to Meredith, Jaime and Joe who were currently huddled together in one of the forts their team had managed to build.

"We already have one," Jaime said and Joe nodded.

"A better one."

"You what this battle needs?" Meredith spoke up.

"What?" the other three replied.

"Hostages."

"Hostages?" Joe asked.

"Yes, hostages. It'll be easy, the strongest in the group – that's Joe, will go and grab the most valuable but also the smallest player on the other team."

"Lauren," Brian whispered.

"Exactly. She can zip around, quick as a flash and because she's so tiny she can hide almost anywhere. Without her, her team wouldn't have found at least half of our forts," Meredith explained.

"Let's do it," Jaime said.

"Okay, so here's the plan..."

Joe snuck around the outside of the house in search of Lauren, with Jaime in tow. He and his team had known from past experience that Lauren liked to hide outside in trees and bushes, so this was the first place they searched.

Peaking around the corner of the house, the duo caught sight of what looked like someone small whipping around the next corner. Hoping that it was Lauren, Joe and Jaime snuck up to the corner she had just disappeared from and peered around. Sure enough, there was Lauren hoping into a bush and hiding herself from view. Joe and Jaime quickly and quietly slipped around the back of the bush Lauren was hiding in and squatted down, staying as quiet as possible and getting ready to make their move.

Just as quickly as the two had squatted down, they were back up again and jumping into the bush, ambushing Lauren. Joe and Jaime both grabbed hold of the tiny girl from behind while the larger man put his left hand over her mouth. Lauren screamed and started punching and kicking her attackers, but to no avail.

Jaime immediately tied the rope she'd been carrying around Lauren's wrists then finished it off by tying it around her waist to keep it secure. As soon as Lauren was tied up, Jaime ran off leaving Joe alone with his kicking and screaming hostage.

Keeping his hand over her mouth, Joe leaned down until his lips were right next to her right ear.

"You're mine now," he whispered and quickly put his right arm around her waist, lifting her easily up off the floor.

Joe carried Lauren to the secluded place his team has decided to take her to, while his left hand kept a tight seal around her mouth, meaning that her screams were muffled and not heard by anyone in her team.

At the back of the backyard there was a huge tree that was over-grown, meaning that if you got around the back of it you were out of sight from everyone. So that's where they'd decided to take her. Sure, there were probably spiders and bugs and wild animals in there, but Joe didn't care.

He laid the tiny girl down on her back on the dirt behind the tree then quickly kneeled down over the top of her, one knee either side of her. Lauren was still thrashing around trying to get free from Joe's hold so he put his free hand on one of her shoulders to try to keep her from moving.

"Stop it, hostage" he demanded and leaned his head down closer to hers. "Now, you listen to me," he whispered dangerously. "You're gonna stay still, not yell and scream or try to escape or I'll be forced to torture you, you understand?"

Lauren became still as she stared up into his eyes. For some reason, she didn't have the energy anymore to scream and try to get free from his hold. It took her a couple of seconds to realise that he'd asked her a question so she quickly nodded.

"Good girl," he smirked. "I'm gonna take my hand away, but you better remember what I said." She nodded and he took his hand away.

"That feels-"

"No talking," Joe cut off Lauren's whisper as he quickly covered her mouth again. "I thought I could trust you to keep quiet, but it looks like I was wrong."

Lauren instantly became still and quiet, but all the while she was trying to think of a way to get out of Joe's strong hold. She relaxed back a little, breathed out and closed her eyes. Joe smiled down at her and slowly removed his hand from her mouth and relaxed his hold on her a little. However, as soon as she moved her hands ever so slightly, Joe was back in full defensive mode.

"Itchy," she quickly and quietly whispered referring to the ropes.

Joe looked down at her and felt a little sorry for her. It wouldn't hurt if he untied the ropes a little, would it? He's still gonna be practically sitting on her, so how's she gonna get up?

Joe put his arms underneath her and untied the ropes and Lauren smiled up at him. Idiot. He has no idea what he's just done. He probably thinks she won't be able to get up since he's practically sitting on her - but he doesn't know just how strong she actually is.

Joe smiled back down at her as he threw the ropes to the side.

"Better?" he asked.

"Much," she replied and she relaxed back again.

Joe suddenly leant down close to her face while he held himself up on his hands, which were on the ground either side of Lauren's head.

"This better not be a part of your little plan missy," he said dangerously, his eyes darting between hers. "Because if it was... I would definitely have to torture you."

Lauren started back at him, unmoving. All of a sudden, she was transfixed by his eyes.

She doesn't know if it's the fact that his face is really close to hers, or the fact that she finds him taking charge and commanding her extremely sexy, or the fact that just recently she's realised that she's definitely falling in love with him or even the fact that he's shirtless right above her and his gleaming, muscled chest is almost pressed against her chest - but she really wants to kiss him right now.

"Joe, I-" Lauren whispered but cut herself off, suddenly feeling speechless.

"Yeah?" he whispered back.

No, she doesn't know at all. But the one thing she does know is that she wants his lips pressed against hers so badly; right here, right now behind this tree.

So she does it. She stops listening to her brain telling her that she's stupid for wanting to kiss her best friend and she reaches up and connects her perfect lips to his.

It almost takes him a second to realise what Lauren's doing before he starts to kiss her back. His best friend, the one he's been in love with ever since they first became friends in college, is kissing him. And she initiated it.

As if choreographed, Lauren reached her arms up and wrapped them around Joe's neck the same time he wrapped his around her waist, pulling each other closer together. Joe's knees slid from under him until he wasn't kneeling on them anymore and was lying on top of her, but being careful not put too much pressure on her - she can kiss powerfully but she's still tiny, after all.

As Lauren felt Joe relax, she came up with a great idea. With Joe being so engrossed in the kiss, she expected that he probably won't notice at all. Slowly, so as not to startle Joe out of his trance, Lauren brought her legs up on either side of Joe and brought them in so her thighs were slightly hugging his hips. In one swift movement, Lauren managed to turn them both over so she was on top.

She broke the kiss and started to kiss down his jaw then onto his neck where she nipped and sucked slightly, causing Joe to moan. Lauren carefully thought about her plan, will it work? Of course it will! Of course, she and Joe will need to talk later about this whole showing their true feelings for each other thing, but for now her plan will do. She moved her lips further up until they are right next to his right ear, getting ready for her to breathily whisper the four little words.

"Who's the hostage now?" and she jumped up before Joe could even get the chance to hold onto her. And then his hostage was gone, and so was his gun.


	6. My Hero

_Just a warning there's smut, but not good smut. Don't read if you don't like it._

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters (except Tom) and all events are completely fictional.**

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"You're useless, you know that!? You can't do anything right!"

"I'm sorry, I'm really sorry," Lauren said as she closed her eyes to try to stop the tears from streaming down her face.

"Sorry? Sorry's not going to fix this, Lauren!" her boyfriend yelled in her face before his hand connected with it. Lauren bit her lip to stop herself from crying out and kept her eyes closed. "Get up and clean this mess up! Now!"

Lauren quickly stood up from the couch in their living room, wiped her eyes then opened them. She looked down at the ground which was covered in shattered glass.

Just minutes before, Lauren had walked into the living room to the call of her boyfriend demanding sex, when she accidentally knocked over a vase which Tom had bought not too long ago for a lot of money.

"And hurry up!" he called from the kitchen. "I need a fuck before I go out."

Lauren quickly cleaned up the glass then walked into the kitchen to put the pieces in the bin.

"You done?" Tom asked.

"Yeah, all cleaned up," Lauren replied with a forced smile.

"Good," he said putting out his cigarette and getting up from his seat at the table. "Bedroom. Now."

Lauren nodded and walked out of the kitchen and to their bedroom as fast as she could.

She knew the drill, so as soon as she got to the bedroom she stripped off her clothes and sat on the edge of the bed waiting for Tom to arrive.

Her friends had told her numerous times to leave Tom, to get out while she could. But she couldn't, she was too scared of what might happen if she were to leave. It would definitely make him angry, a lot angrier than she's ever seen him and she doesn't want to be the cause of that.

And besides, he wasn't like this all the time; only when he'd been drinking.

"Good, you're deciding to behave today," he said as he walked through the bedroom door to see Lauren waiting. He walked up in front of her and waited as she undid his pants and pulled them down to his ankles. "Well, what're you waiting for?"

Lauren grabbed him and worked her hand up and down, like she'd done so many times before.

"Get on with it!"

She licked the head and began to suck, but before too long Tom had forced the whole of his length down her throat, almost choking her. But not that he cared.

Tom pulled out of her and waited for her to turn around onto all fours on the bed. Once she was in position his hand came down hard upon her, and then again while Lauren tried not to cry out in pain. He gripped her hips and pushed himself inside of her.

Lauren bit her lip to stop herself from crying out in pain as he relentlessly pushed his length inside of her. In out, in out – over and over again. She really should've been used to this by now since it happened nearly every day, but she wasn't.

Then all of a sudden, Lauren's phone went off.

"If that's that fuck head Joe, there's gonna be hell to pay," Tom growled as he pulled himself out of Lauren, pulled up his pants and looked around the room for her phone.

"I'll just turn it off. It's probably just Julia or work stuff," Lauren said nervously as she got up and picked up her phone.

"No," Tom held out his hand, "let me see."

"It's- it's just work sweetie. Nothing to worry about," Lauren forced a smile as she quickly tried to turn her phone off.

Tom growled and pushed Lauren roughly against the wall, taking the phone out of her hand.

_'Hey Lo. Joey's coming over later so while Tom's out I can come pick you up and we can all hang out? - Joe xox'_

Tom growled, threw the phone at the wall and slapped Lauren hard.

"I'm sorry," she whimpered.

"You told me you told him not to text you anymore," he growled in her face.

"I did."

"I told you I didn't like you seeing him."

"I know. I don't see him anymore."

"You fucking lying bitch," he said and slapped her again. Lauren squeezed her eyes shut and Tom grabbed her shoulders then pushed her backwards towards the bed-side table.

He walked out the bedroom door, not even looking back to see his girlfriend lying unconscious on the floor.

Joe was in his car driving over to Lauren's house which she shared with her boyfriend. He texted her telling her that they could hang out with Joey once her boyfriend had left but she hadn't replied. That was two hours ago. Because of her controlling boyfriend, he knew that it might take her a little while for her to reply, but it had never taken her two hours before.

He parked his car outside Lauren's house then ran up to the front door, ringing the doorbell. After a couple of minutes Joe discovered that the front door was unlocked so he let himself in.

"Lauren?" he yelled out as he closed the door behind him. Joe searched all the rooms downstairs before making his way upstairs.

When he got upstairs he walked into the bedroom to see Lauren lying on the floor. He ran over to her and quickly checked for a pulse.

"Thank fuck, she's alive," he breathed as he kissed her forehead and stroked her hair. As he pulled his hand away he discovered that she had a cut on the back of her head where she'd hit her head on the bed-side table. Joe was now even more worried than before and knew that with a head injury she should really be awake. "Lo, please wake up. You need to wake up," he said desperately, shaking her slightly.

Joe, figuring that it would be faster than him taking her to the hospital, grabbed his phone and called an ambulance. Thinking that Lauren probably wouldn't want to go to the hospital wearing nothing, he looked around the room for some clothes to carefully put on Lauren.

Just as he'd finished putting the clothes on her, Joe heard a small voice.

"Wox?" he looked down to see Lauren with her eyes half open and a tiny sleepy smile on her face.

"Yeah, it's me." He knelt down next to her and grabbed her hand. "An ambulance is coming soon to take you to the hospital, okay?"

"Will you stay with me?" she mumbled.

"Of course I will," Joe kissed her hand and she closed her eyes. "No, Lo stay awake!" But it was too late, she was already unconscious.

The ambulance came in no time and soon enough, both were in the back and Joe was right there by her side holding her hand.

"Is she going to be okay?" Joe asked the ambulance officer who was in the back with them.

"Well, she's got a bad cut to the back of her head, she most likely has a concussion and her being unconscious while she has a concussion is not good. But, once she gets to the hospital they'll do everything they can to wake her up."

When they arrived at the hospital, Joe did everything he could to stay with Lauren, even fighting with the doctors and nurses. Eventually, they gave up and allowed him to stay by her bedside.

Joe had called all their friends telling them about Lauren and had also told them that the nurses weren't allowing anyone else to see her until the following day. Since Tom had done this to Lauren, they also decided to report him to the police so Lauren would never have to go through this ever again.

"Mr Walker?" Lauren's doctor broke the silence as he popped his head through the curtain surrounding Lauren's hospital bed. Joe looked up from Lauren. "May I please speak with you?"

Joe nodded, reluctantly let go of Lauren's hand and met with her doctor just outside the curtain.

"As you know it's been four hours since Lauren was brought in here, and she hasn't woken since. Now, the cut on her head I'm not too worried about but it's the fact that we can see that she's had these types of head injuries before." _That bastard_, Joe thought, _he's hurt her before._ "After examining her and running some tests, I'm very sorry to say this, but we're not quite sure she'll wake up."

"Lo, I don't know if you can hear me but... you're strong," Joe said to Lauren as he held her hand with tears in his eyes while sitting by her bedside. After Lauren's doctor had told him the horrible news, Joe had yelled and screamed at the doctor to which Joe was then told to go and find somewhere to calm down. He chose Lauren's bedside. "You can work your way out of this. Please just stay with us... with me." He kissed her forehead and wiped away some tears from his eyes. "I love you so much. When you wake up we're gonna get you away from him and he'll never hurt you ever again. You'll never have to feel weak, never have to feel scared and you'll be back to your old confident self in no time." He gently traced her jaw line with his finger. "You will wake up," he said defiantly, but it was more to himself than to Lauren.

When Lauren awoke she was on an uncomfortable bed in a room that smelt clean; a little too clean. Her eyes began to focus and Lauren realised that she was in a hospital bed with a light blue curtain surrounding her.

_What am I doing here?_ she thought to herself.

Lauren looked over to her right and saw that she had an IV hooked up to her right arm. She looked over to her left and took in a sharp intake of breath as she saw that her left hand was being held by someone who was asleep in a chair next to her bed.

Her sudden intake of breath was all it took to wake Joe up. Lauren had been unconscious for almost a week now and he'd been by her side the entire time, waiting for this moment to come. He shot up in his chair and looked over at Lauren who was looking back at him with a confused expression.

"Lo," he whispered. "You're awake," he said a little louder.

"Yeah," her voice was hoarse, as if she hadn't used it in weeks.

"You're awake!" He stood up. "How're you feeling?" he asked.

"Uhh, fine," she answered. "What am I doing here, Wox?"

"You- you don't remember?" Lauren shook her head and Joe sighed. "I don't really want to tell you this but, your boyfriend - well, ex-boyfriend now, I guess, he- um… he beat you up pretty bad. You've been unconscious for almost a week."

It all started coming back to her now; her phone going off, Tom seeing the text from Joe, him getting angry and then the feeling of her falling backwards. She slowly turned her head back to Joe and looked at him.

"How long have you been here with me?" she asked.

"Pretty much the whole time you've been here. Julia and Meredith had to drag me out of here to go home and have a shower and eat and stuff," he said with an embarrassed smile, blushing slightly. Lauren blushed slightly as well and smiled, moving her eyes down to her lap.

"Thanks," she whispered.

"No problem."

And then she remembered what happened next; she woke up and saw... Joe. He'd come and he'd saved her! Like her knight in shining armour or... or a superhero!

Lauren smiled and looked back at Joe.

"You... you saved me," she said quietly. He smiled and gently rubbed his thumb on the back on her hand.

"Yeah, but you wouldn't have needed saving if it weren't for him." Lauren's face dropped. "But, he's gone now. The police took him and hopefully he won't ever bother you again." Lauren gently pulled her hand out of Joe's grasp and put it up to his lips.

"Shhh... Let's not talk about that," she smiled, her hand gently touching his lower lip then caressing his cheek.

Lauren gazed into his eyes with a small smile and Joe felt a tug on his heart towards her. _Should I kiss her?_ he thought, _No, she wouldn't want me to kiss her. She's just gone through a really traumatic experience._

Suddenly, the curtain surrounding Lauren's bed flung open and the faces of Joey and Julia could be seen. Lauren quickly moved her hand away from Joe's face and the both of them looked at Joey and Julia.

"Did we interrupt something?" Joey asked.

"Come on." Julia, being aware of Joe's crush on Lauren and Lauren's crush on Joe, quickly dragged Joey out of the room. Joe saw Lauren look down at her hands so he looked back up at Julia, who was looking back at him and mouthed a quick 'thank you', to which Julia replied with a nod and a knowing smile. Julia closed the curtain and could be heard walking away with Joey who was asking, "What was that about?"

Lauren looked back at Joe and smiled.

"You're my hero, you know that?" she said and Joe smiled at her.

"You know..." he grabbed her hand again. "Normally the hero gets a kiss from the beautiful woman he saves..."

"Really?" Lauren raised an eyebrow. "Well, if that's what normally happens..."

The both of them smiled and leaned in together, closing the distance. Lauren slowly moved her hand that Joe was holding up his arm and to the back of his neck. Both friends smiled as they deepened the kiss slightly.

After another few moments, both broke the kiss but stayed close.

"I love you, Lauren," Joe whispered.

"I love you too," Lauren smiled. "My hero," she whispered against his lips and they both smiled as they happily closed the distance again.


	7. Don't Walk Away

_I've recently remembered my love for Dean Geyer and was listening to his song 'We Share The Same Space' and it gave me inspiration._

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters or the song lyrics and all events are completely fictional.**

* * *

The end of college. No more classes, no more studying, no more exams... Some might say it's one of the happiest days of their lives, others not so much. Because the end of college also means going and having to leave some of the best friends you've probably ever met in your life. You've spent the last four years together, how are you supposed to go on living your life without them?

"Graduation's in two days!" Julia announced happily as she walked out of her bedroom and into the living area of her and her best friends dorm.

"Yeah..." Lauren answered unenthusiastically.

"Aren't you excited?" Julia asked as she sat down next to Lauren on the tiny couch. "I mean, we get to go to New York and live out our dream!"

Lauren just sat staring at the wall in front of her thinking about what her best friend and roommate of four years had just said. _We get to go to New York_

_New York_

Julia's words just kept repeating over and over in Lauren's mind.

_New York New York New York New York New York_

_They were going to New York. And he was going to LA._

_And you're in my head  
And you're in my head_

A few weeks ago, Lauren was beyond excited to be going to New York. Absolutely ecstatic. But now that the day they'd be boarding the plane and she'd leave him without telling him how she felt about him came nearer, that ecstasy she was feeling was starting to deteriorate.

"I know we do Juls. But... the past few months, weeks... they've gone by so fast. I just- I just wish that there'd been more time," she said quietly trying to hold back tears. "Y'know, once we leave… we-," _I_ "we may not see them," _him_ "ever again."

"Lo, you _will _see him again." Lauren looked up at her friend, surprised that she knew. "I know how you feel about him. I see it every time you look at him and the way you are around him. But, this isn't the end. You two'll still keep in contact, I know you will."

"Thanks Jules," Lauren smiled.

"You still have some time to tell him how you feel."

"But, I can't do that to him. He's leaving for LA the day after we leave. I just can't dump that on him. He deserves to go and live out his dream too."

"But what if his dream is to be with you?"

_We share the same space  
We are the same, so I  
Don't understand why things are this way  
Two people forced to turn their backs and walk away  
'Cause they could not communicate how much they wanna stay_

Joe Walker sat silently in his dorm, occasionally taking gulps of his beer, surrounded by his loud friends playing video games.

"What's wrong with you?" Darren asked as he plopped down next to his unusually quiet friend.

"Nothing," he replied not looking at his curly haired friend. "Graduation's in two days," Joe said quietly.

"Yeah! Aren't you excited? LA's gonna be so fun, man!"

"Yeah... But what if I go there and... and I never see any of you guys ever again?" _What if I never see Lauren again?_

"Everyone'll still talk! We've been friends for four years. You just can't forget someone you've been around for that long."

* * *

"Who's coming to the airport to see us off?" Lauren asked as she picked up her carry-on bag and made sure she had everything she needed.

"Everyone really," Julia replied gathering her own things for the plane.

"So that means..."

"Joe will be there."

* * *

Darren stood at the front door of his friend's dorm waiting for him to come out. He knocked again.

"Come on Joe!" he shouted. "If we don't hurry up we'll miss them!"

The dorm room finally opened and a tired looking Joe appeared holding his car keys.

"You look like shit," Darren observed as Joe locked the door and started to walk away. Darren caught up to him.

"I couldn't sleep."

"Why?" Joe didn't reply and kept walking until he reached his car and the two friends jumped in. "Is it because of Lauren?" Darren broke the silence and Joe quickly glanced over at him, asking with his eyes how his best friend knew. "I've known for a while. The way you look at her, the way you are around her... Why don't you just tell her how you feel?"

_My heart is with you  
My heart is with you_

"Because I can't Darren!" Joe shouted angrily. "She's going to New York! I can't stop her from doing that, it's her dream!"

"Well, maybe her _real_ dream is to be with you."

_We share the same space  
We are the same, so I  
Don't understand why things are this way  
Two people forced to turn their backs and walk away  
'Cause they could not communicate how much they wanna stay_

"I'm going to miss you."

"I'll miss you too."

"Be safe!"

"Don't do anything too crazy!"

"Call us when you get there!"

The large group of friends all bombarded Lauren and Julia with bucket loads of hugs and kisses and goodbyes. The woman on the loud speaker in the airport announced that the two friends' flight was now boarding and they would need to leave.

Joe was looking on at the scene from the edge of the group, waiting his turn to say goodbye to the pair. The group started to disperse away from the two girls and Joe knew that his time to say goodbye to the girl he loved was coming. Julia came up to him first and he gave her a quick hug and a goodbye. And finally there was Lauren. Looking as perfect as ever.

_Two people forced to turn their backs and walk away  
'Cause they could not communicate how much they wanna stay_

As Lauren finally caught sight of Joe she felt the butterflies in her tummy start to take off. She didn't know what to do, or what to say so she just stood there staring at him while he stared at her. Slowly, she made her way towards him and the two hugged each other tightly.

_Don't walk away_

The speaker erupted again with the annoying voice of the woman calling for everyone on their flight to board. The pair quickly separated, shared a small quick smile before Lauren was walking away with Julia towards the gate.

Lauren looked back towards the group of her friends and gave them a small smile and a wave. Joe saw her turn and looked at her eagerly, hoping that she was going to say something to him.

_Don't walk away_

Then her eyes found Joe's. They were looking straight at her. She felt as if she should say something, but had no idea what.

_Maybe I should say something_, Joe thought. He opened his mouth slightly as if he was about to speak and Lauren looked eagerly at him. But, for the first time in his life Joe was speechless.

_Don't walk away_

He quickly closed his mouth and settled for a small smile and a wave which she returned before she turned her back and walked away.

_Could not communicate how much they want to stay_


	8. From Best to Worst

_I'm sorry. This is sad, but it's my teacher's fault. She made us listen to different pieces of music and write a little story/intro to a story inspired by it and this is what I thought of. Don't say I didn't warn you._

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters and all events are completely fictional.**

* * *

The plain white, sterile smelling waiting room was just about full. Every one of their best friends had shown up for this momentous occasion in the young couple's life. The girls, lying across the boys trying to get comfortable, were reading magazines or on their phones while the boys were talking casually waiting for the news they'd been waiting for for the past nine months. Nurses, doctors and patients occasionally walked by the group of 20-somethings and each time Meredith or Jaime or Denise would look up in the hopes that it was Joe telling them that he was now a father. A beautiful blue-eyed girl who, apart from her eyes, looked exactly like her mother or a boy who was the exact replica of his handsome father. Every so often the group would hear the soprano screams of their strong, petite friend and cringe at the fact that she was going through so much pain. Saying they'd been waiting in those uncomfortable chairs for a few hours was an understatement, Lauren had been screaming and screaming for at least ten hours now or maybe even more.

'She's not going to last much longer,' the doctor said to one of the midwives hurriedly, making sure Joe couldn't hear.

Joe was up by Lauren's head, as she had not-so-nicely requested as soon as they'd arrived at the hospital. The death grip she had on her husband's hand and her constant screaming was making him cringe and whisper words of encouragement and love to her all the way through.

'Just one more push, Lauren. You're doing really well,' the doctor said.

Lauren pushed as hard as she could while crushing all the bones in Joe's hand.

'You're almost there.'

The screams from the brunette rung louder and louder through the halls of the hospital. The friends discarded everything they were doing and sat waiting. This was it.

Lauren gave out one final scream then stopped, and all that could be heard was the scream of a tiny baby. Her baby. Their baby. Her grip on Joe's hand slackened and he moved some of her brown hair out of her face and leant forward to give his wife a kiss on her tan, sweaty forehead. The new father let go of the exhausted mother's hand to make his way over to see his new son or daughter.

'What is it?' Lauren asked, her eyes closed and her breathing ragged.

'Boy,' Joe breathed,' it's a boy! I have a son!' he exclaimed and Lauren let out a sleepy smile.

'All you?'

'Yep,' he picked up his son who was now all nicely clean and wrapped, 'all me.' He smirked, 'He's by far the cutest baby I've ever seen,' he said walking over to Lauren who was now smirking slightly.

Joe placed the baby in her arms and she opened her big brown eyes slowly to look down at her son. Joe was right, all him. She let the baby grab her finger and leant back, her eyes closing.

'I'm so tired, Joe,' she said in a small tired voice. Joe smiled and leant down to give her a small kiss.

'You did really well, Lo. I love you.'

'I love you too.'

'I'm gonna go tell the others,' he said and walked out of the room.

The waiting room erupted into non-stop talk and screams of excitement when Joe walked into it. His friends jumped all over him like an animal would to its prey, wanting information about the mother and baby. Joe talked proudly about his son and wife to his friends until he decided to go back and see the two greatest things that'd ever happened to him.

Joe walked up the hallway leading to the room Lauren was in. Nurses were rushing up and down the hallway and as he got closer to the door leading into Lauren's room, he saw that their destinations were the same. He broke into a run and pushed his way into the hospital room his wife and son were currently occupying. The room was chaotic, doctors and nurses rushing around, machines making loud beeps that put Joe on edge. The piercing scream of the heart rate monitor rung through the room and Joe stopped dead, tears clouding his eyes. He was pushed to one side as another nurse rushed to his wife's side.

'Lauren!' he screamed in a strangled sob.

The doctor recognised the voice and yelled at the nurses for one of them to get him out of the room. A blonde nurse approached the man who was now looking at the scene through blurry eyes and escorted him outside the door and into the waiting room. His friends saw him approaching, teary eyed, escorted by a nurse. They immediately ran to their broken friend's side, quickly gripping his arms to stop him from falling to his knees as the nurse had to let him go to go help with his wife.

The best day of this young man's life had just suddenly turned into the worst.


	9. Poison

_Inspired by the song 'Poison' by Alice Cooper. And is all in Joe's P.O.V._

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters or the song lyrics and all events are completely fictional.**

* * *

_Your cruel device, your blood like ice._

It's as if she knows she's teasing me. Making me want her when I know I can't have her. I know she may not know that I have an undying love for her, but I still like to think that she's always teasing me even though she may not be aware of it.

She's almost evil like that. But I love it.

_One look could kill,  
__My pain, your thrill._

Her looks could be the death of me. Like with the teasing thing, she's probably not aware that her looks almost kill me; but they do.

And when she's strutting around in barely there clothing, it physically hurts me not being about to touch her, be close to her, kiss her.

Like on the Apocalyptour, her dancing around in those tiny shorts. Or, that one time at the beach when her tiny body, that has hints of curves in all the right places, was in a tiny bikini; that nearly killed me.

_I wanna love you, but I better not touch.  
__I wanna hold you, but my senses tell me to stop.  
__I wanna kiss you, but I want it too much.  
__I wanna taste you, but your lips are venomous poison._

When she comes close I just want to pick her up and take her away somewhere where the two of us can be together and love each other. And it's even worse when she's sad or sick. I just wanna be close to her, make her all better. I wanna kiss her. I wanna kiss her so bad. I've come close to kissing her so many times but my brain always tells me to stop. She may not want it like I do.

She's like something I can't have because it may make things worse.

Like a poison.

She's my poison.

She's one of my best friend and you don't just do those types of things with your best friend.

_You're poison runnin' though my veins.  
__You're poison, I don't wanna break these chains._

She keeps me going.

She's like the blood running though my veins, something I'm in constant need of.

When she's not around I'm not as happy as I am when I'm around her.

Seeing her instantly makes me happier.

But there's something holding me back from making her mine. It's like ropes, or chains.

We've got these amazing chains of friendship that have taken so many years to strengthen and I don't want to break them.

_Your mouth, so hot.  
__Your web, I'm caught.  
__Your skin, so wet.  
__Black lace on sweat._

But then I see her, and she's so beautiful. And hot. My God, is she hot. Just everything about her is beautiful and gorgeous and hot and amazing.

She's caught me. She's caught me in her web, I'm stuck and I can't get myself out. It's been like this ever since I met her.

I remember the first day we met – it was a rainy day and she was running across the grass on her way to class. I remember thinking that she was one of the most beautiful girls I'd ever seen. She was running through the rain, laughing with her hair all wet worrying about being late to class and I started to smile and laugh at the sight of her and she noticed. That's when we realised we were in most of the same classes, so we walked to our class together.

I just wanna see her in black lace, the both of us glazed in sweat, laying with each other and smiling like idiots. I think she'd look good like that.

But she always looks good in anything she wears.

_I hear you callin' and it's needles and pins._

Whenever she says my name, or calls after me it kills me even more. Well, not kills me. More like... causes me constant pain. Like needles and pins.

It makes me sad that when she calls after me she's probably thinking of me as _just _a friend.

But in saying that, her voice is something I could never get sick of.

_I wanna hurt you just to hear you screaming my name._

She'd never notice me in the way I want her to. I mean, she thinks of me as a friend or maybe even a brother like she does with Joey or Brian. I feel as though I have to do something big for her to notice that I love her. And hope that she loves me back.

I want her to scream my name. While she's below me... or on top of me...

_Don't wanna touch you, but you're under my skin._

In some ways, I don't want to touch her. I just feel as though if I do touch her, just in a platonic type way, I'll fall for her even more. And that I may not be able to control myself and end up kissing her or something like that. But the problem is, she's always around.

_I wanna kiss you, but your lips are venomous poison._

I wanna be close to her. I wanna hold her. I wanna kiss her. I wanna taste her. I wanna touch her. I want her to scream my name. I want her to shiver under my touch. I want her to love me. And most of all, I want her to be mine. But she's my best friend, my poison.


End file.
